So my "company" had mandatory CPR/AED training this week. I wondered how this was going to work. 1 instructor, 100 people and 1 hour. No way.
BOY HAS CPR and FIRST AID TRAINING CHANGED.
First, for those who've taken it, ABC was the memory key about what to do. Airway, Breathing and Circulation. Simple enough. I had my own key and it was BBB. Better Business Burueau. No, no. Breathing, Beating, Bleeding, was what I called it. I like alliteration better than alphabet or number lists. Anyway so you'll know they've added D, Disability, and E, Exposure/Examine to the list, so it's ABCDE. (I'll stick with BBB.)
BUT SHE DIDN'T TEACH US THIS. JUST MENTIONED IT IN PASSING!!
First, understand, I'm from the Boomer Generation. We were taught 2 spaces at the end of a sentence. Take salt pills if you're sweating a lot. And First Aid was at least an 8 hour course. I took a First Aid Boy Scout course. I was taught it in high school. In the military I took another week long course. Then as a volunteer for the City of Jacksonville, as a first responder, I took another 2 days. Granted it has been several decades. So how do 100 people get through CPR in 40 minutes in 2015?
What these short courses are banking on is based on 911 response times. If you assume that for most of us, most of the time, help, EMS, is just a few minutes away, you don't have to really do a whole lot. The emphasis on basic first aid is CPR. Not even that. Really just concentrate on chest compressions. It you don't feel like doing, mouth-to-mouth, don't. The best thing you can do for somebody is keeping the blood moving. That's the basics. Sure, if they're not experiencing cardiac arrest and they have a severly bleeding wound, apply direct pressure. (Nose bleeds, hold the nose down not up!) If it's an allergic reaction and they have an Epipin, administer it. Give Benedril for anybody else. Call 911 always. That's it. And as far as the AED? Stay on the line with 911 and they'll step you through it. Oh. And the Heimlich maneuver was covered. That's all we covered.
If, a big IF, you buy into the paradigm that help is only a few minutes away, that's really all you need to know. And that's what "they" are teaching these days.
That's all well and good... for that paradigm. Obviously, many of us find ourselves in situations a little bit more removed than "a couple of minutes". Most of the country does have Cell Service, but don't bank on it. I keep a complete, hard copy, first aid book handy in the first aid kits. I also have a much more comprehensive first aid, survival book that's in the bug out bag.
Remember my definition of "disaster" is when 911 isn't going to respond. And it's not difficult, even in our populated areas to have that happen at any time. Riots, chemical spills, fires, terrorists, extensive traffic accidents, weather, earthquakes or volcanoes(yes they can and have happened in the CONUS), are all it takes to put you hours or days away from EMS help.